Constellations and Stars Flashcards
Unit 1
What are the thirteen constellations of the zodiac in order
Aries Taurus Gemini Cancer Leo Virgo Libra Scorpius Ophiuchus Sagittarius Capricornus Aquarius Pisces
What does circumpolar imply?
Visible all year round at our latitude (all stars within 45 degrees of the North Pole)
What are the Circumpolar constellations?
Ursa minor Ursa major Draco Cepheus Cassiopeia Perseus
What is a star from Ursa Minor?
Polaris
What is a star from Ursa Major?
Mizar and Alcor (binary system)
What is a star in Draco
Thuban (the ancient “North star” of the Egyptians)
What is a star in Cepheus?
Delta-Cephei
What is special about delta-Cephei?
It is a variable star
What shape does Cassiopeia form in the sky?
W
What is a star in Perseus?
Algol (a variable star)
And the “double cluster” h and X Persei
How far is the order of 200 million kilometers?
The inner planets (~1.2 AU)
How big is the solar system?
~120 AU
How many stars within 20 light years?
17
How big is our Galaxy?
Diameter of 100000 light-years
How many satellite galaxies does the Milky Way have?
2 of them known: called the Magellanic clouds
How big are groups of galaxies?
~5 million light-years
What is the nearest Galaxy to us?
Andromeda Galaxy (at 2.5 million light-years)
How many galaxies in our local group?
About 50
On what scale are superclusters of galaxies?
About 100 million light-years (About a hundred thousand galaxies across)
How big is the observable universe?
Diameter of 90 billion light-years